Orysia is the firstborn child of Ukrainian immigrants.  She learned to speak English (and several other languages for a short time) while playing with the children of other European immigrants in Sudbury, Ontario.  She began her first novel about horses at age nine but ended up publishing a different one in 2009.  Orysia graduated from the University of Western Ontario with a degree in Zoology, and from Kansas State University in Agricultural Sciences.  She has been a sheep farmer and breeder of Akbash Dogs who guard sheep.  She currently resides on a Prince Edward Island farm with one niece, one rescued Podenco hound and one three-legged cat.